Drowning in Sorrow
by SuperNeos2
Summary: Eric Forman was always the nice guy of his group. He was always the one that people could go to if they needed help. But after a night in which all his friends and family snap at him and he gets hurt, Eric turns dark and shoves them all away. Can his friends bring him back or is he forever doomed to the dark side? Eric/Jackie
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Don't own That '70s Show

AN: **I'm typing this on my brother's laptop since my desktop computer is not working. So until my dad fixes it, I'm stuck using my brother's laptop and he isn't the sharing type so there might not be a lot of updates from me for the next few days.**

**Anyway, here's the story that people have been looking forward to from me. The story of Eric being an asshole to all his friends and family. I'm not sure how long this story will be. Hope you guys will like it. Sorry for the short chapter, but it's just an intro chapter and those are never long.**

**Enjoy**

Chapter 1

He frowned as he walked away.

He ignored all the stares and calls that they were giving him as he angrily opened the door and climbed the steps up into the backyard, pushing past the pain that he was feeling in his stomach. He didn't want to see them. He wanted nothing to do with them after what they did to him the night where this all started.

The night that he decided to end all of their friendships after the way they treated him.

Eric finished climbing the steps and glanced around the quiet backyard of his house. There was no one up here, just like he wanted. He wanted peace and quiet after the screaming match that he just had with everyone down in the basement. They all tried to tell him that he was being the unreasonable one; that he was the one who needed to chill.

How dare they tell him that he was the one being unreasonable?!

It was because of them that he was like this. It was because of them that he was so angry now. His friends and his family made him into an angry person.

And it was because of them that he went out and got this hole in his stomach that ached him night and day.

Eric could hear the door that he just came out of open. He didn't have anywhere to go for right now due to the pain in his stomach irritating him and the fact that it was really late at night. Eric didn't like going out late anymore. The last time he did he had to go to the hospital. He instead took seat on top of his Vista Cruiser, possibly the only 'friend' that he had anymore, and did his best to ignore the person that came up the stairs from the basement.

He rubbed his stomach as he tuned out the voice of the person that took a seat next to him. He slowly turned his head to glare as he felt the hand of the person rub on his arm. The person retracted their hand as he glared at them, making Eric smirk to himself in accomplishment. He really could be scary if he wanted to. Just like his father that he was also pissed at.

"Eric. . . Can you just talk to me?" Eric was more interested in the bushes that seperated his house from Donna's than the person that was trying to talk to him. "Steven didn't mean what he said about you being a whiny bastard." Eric wanted to laugh and call bullshit, but that would require giving attention to someone that he was trying not to give attention to.

"We're all guilt-ridden about the way we treated you-"

This time, Eric did call bullshit. "Yeah right! The guy that gave me this hole in my stomach was nicer to me that night than any of you were. You guys aren't upset, especially you." Eric turned to glare at the person sitting next to him. "You _**always **_make fun of me and you always like to put me down. You aren't upset about what you said to me, none of you are!" Before Eric could stand up and stomp away, he was grabbed on his arm by the person next to him.

Eric was fumed, "Get off of me!"

"No. I want you to talk to me,"

"Get off me Jackie!

Jackie was trying her best to look into Eric's eyes, but he was looking everywhere but her. She just wanted to apologize to Eric for the pain that she caused him that night. She was out of line when she told him to go and crawl in a hole and die. She was really out of line. And he did almost die. She would've never forgiven herself if Eric had died that night. She couldn't even forgive herself now.

How can she when Eric,the nicest guy she knew, wouldn't forgive her.

"Eric, just talk to me. I wanna say I'm sorry."

Eric yanked his arm off, startling Jackie enough that she fell off the Cruiser; landing on her back. Eric didn't feel a pang of regret over what he did. Not one pang of guilt. He just wished that she, along with everyone else, can feel the pain that he felt that night they yelled at him and the pain he was feeling now. But they would never go through what he did, so he would never forgive them.

"Jackie. . ." he almost laughed at the hopeful look that came on her face. "Go crawl in a hole and die." he repeated the same words that she said to him that night that this all started, and got a strange sense of satisfication at the pain on her face. "Before you do that, tell Donna I hate her; tell Kelso that he's an asshole; tell Fez he's a moron; tell Hyde that he's a bastard; tell my father that he's an old cranky loser; tell my sister that she's a bitch; and tell my mother that she is stupid for bringing me into this world and for marrying a loser like my father."

Eric repeated the same insults that everyone had given him that night, changing some around to fit the descriptions of his old friends and his family. He walked away from the still-fallen Jackie and into his house, heading up to his room to want to sleep the night and pain away.

The pain in his stomach and suprisingly. . . the pain in his heart.

Jackie watched Eric walk away, pulling herself up from the ground. Jackie was more upset at the way Eric was treating her than the dirt that now stained her clothes. She felt really guilt-ridden about how she treated Eric and really wanted to make it up to him in anyway she could. She watched the boy that she kinda liked walk away into his house. She didn't know when she started liking Eric. Maybe seeing him bed-ridden in the hosptial helped kick those feelings into effect, or maybe this new darker Eric was kinda making her realize just how great of a guy Eric was before.

Her Luke Skywalker turned and walked into the dark side and turned into Darth Vader.

And it was her and her friends' fault.

End of Chapter 1 of Drowning in Sorrow

Yeah, we don't start at that night. We start at around two weeks after it happened. It's this thing I'm trying out in telling a story somewhere in the middle and make refrences to the beginning. Some movies do this and I wanted to try it.

Eric is a lot darker than the guy we all know and love and we'll uncover bits and pieces over the course on why he's like this and what exactly happened. There's foreshadow here, but you won't understand the full story right now.

And it won' be an easy ride for E/J to get together. It's gonna be difficult to watch go down.

Next Time: Chapter 2


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Don't own That '70s Show

AN: **I wanna thank everyone who left a review, favorited, or alerted this story. It makes me smile knowing that people like what I write about. The only reason I still wrtie is for my fans.**

**We get more hints of what happened that night that Eric got hurt and decided to push them all away. I don't wanna reveal what exactly happened that night just yet, so you aren't gonna get the big reveal till much later.**

**Enjoy**

Chapter 2

Hyde sat in his chair in the basement, staring blankly at the television screen that was playing some show that he could care less about. He didn't pay much attention to the way that Kelso and Fez were staring at him with some sort of look of pity on their faces, or at the way that Donna seemed to be looking at the open door to the basement that Jackie left open after she went to chase after Eric. Hyde could only concntrate on the way that he felt like an asshole for saying what he said to Eric. He knew that calling him a whiny little bastard wasn't the best choice of words to give him due to the way that Eric already felt about him. Eric probably hated him more now after what he said.

Not like he was proud of what he said or done to him that night in the first place.

He was having a bad day that day. First his car's engine was shot to shit for reasons that he still couldn't figure out why. Secondly, his stash was bled dry after Kelso and Fez decided that it would be funny to use it when he wasn't around. Third, Leo couldn't pay him for the week due to him not having enough money for the moment and promising to pay him double the week after. Fourth, he spilled soda on his favorite Led Zepplin shirt after he sneezed while trying to drink it. It was not a good day for Steven Hyde.

And he had taken that out on Eric. His best friend. His brother. He felt like more of an asshole as he thought about that night. The hurtful words that he told him were worse than he deserved. And he added gasoline to the fire by calling him a whiny bastard about the way he was acting towards them. Eric had every right to treat them all the way that he did now. It was because of them that he almost got killed and now sprouted a hole in his stomach.

Eric's voice echoed from the backyard, being easily heard as Jackie left the door wide open for them to hear exactly what was going on above them. He sounded really angry as he ranted to Jackie about how he felt about each and every one of them. Hyde flinched when Eric called him a bastard. He used his own words against him and Hyde was sure that they hurt him a lot more than they had hurt Eric. The other three occupants of the room all flinched as they heard Eric's insults to them.

It wasn't that big of a secret that all of them felt really bad about the way that they had treated Eric. Hyde wasn't sure how each and every one of them managed to have a bad day on the same day, but they did and they all had snapped at Eric when he asked them if they felt like hanging out or wanted to talk about their problems that they faced that day. Eric was trying to be nice to them like he always was and they had taken him and indirectly molded him into some prick that couldn't care less about what happened to them anymore

Hyde was sure that if Eric could, he would pack his shit and leave if he had somewhere to go.

As much as he wanted to go up and talk to Eric, he knew that he would just be on the other end of Eric's angry rant. Hyde can handle people who were assholes, but this was his friend. It was a lot different than handling someone that he didn't know all that well. Handling an angry Eric was like handling a smart Kelso. You just didn't know what to do.

Footsteps sounded as Hyde turned to look at the open entrance up into the backyard. Jackie stumbled down the steps, a look of defeat splattered on her normally confident face. She obviously failed at getting Eric to open up about how he feels. It was something that they all tried in the last two weeks since he's been out of the hospital. Trying to get Eric to talk to them about how he was feeling and to get him back to the way that he was before this all happened.

Each time they only recieved a glare and/or a growl from their friend before he stomped away.

Eric had fallen down into the sea of anger and was now drowning and ignoring the life perservers that his friends were throwing him.

Jackie evaluated the faces of her friends, shaking her head sadly as she started to explain her faliure. "He's still angry."

"No, duh." Kelso made a face at her, sarcasm embitted all over his features. "He yelled at you and called us all names. I thought you succeeded." Kelso wasn't the same goofball that he was two weeks prior to everything happening. This new and darker Eric had shown Kelso that his supidity had hurt his friend and almost gotten him killed. He swore to not be an idiot until Eric was back to the way he was before he got into the hospital. Anything to get his friend back to the way he was once before. He missed him.

Jackie glared at him, "I tried! I did what I could. It's not my fault if he doesn't wanna listen to me and perfers to stomp away." Jackie held her hand up before Fez can open his mouth about how technically, it was kinda her fault that he was the way he was now.

"Who would've thought that Forman would become the angry one of the group." Hyde was mumbling outloud as he replayed Eric's insults in his head. There were words there that he never thought that Eric would ever say to people that he cared about. Too bad he didn't care about them anymore. He even stated that he cared more about the man who hospitalized him than any of his ex-friends. He was obviously just joking, but there was some truth in his words as he told them that. Eric even said that the guy who called 9-1-1 for him was better to him than any of them were.

Jackie shrugged, "I never would've. He was always the sweet one between us. He was the nice guy that we all were glad that we had." Jackie slumped into the couch, the pain from the fall that Eric caused becoming worse as she stood. She wasn't mad at him for causing her pain. If it made him feel better, she'll take it a thousand times over. Anything to get her Eric back.

Fez nodded in agreement, "I miss my friend. I miss him more than my bag of candy that got taken." The eight eyes in the room all turned to Fez as he finished his sentence, shock plastered on all their faces. Fez blinked before he shrugged at them. "I'm serious. I miss Jedi Eric. I hate Sith Eric."

"When did we start talking about Star Wars all the time?" Hyde asked.

"In hopes that Eric might talk to us and forgive us for the pain that we caused him." Jackie reminded. It was her idea and she had seen the movie so many times in the last two weeks that she can resite the movie word for word. It didn't help her cause with Eric. Eric only looked surprised before he stomped away like he normally did nowadays. It didn't stop Jackie from trying. She never gave up. Especially when Eric's friendship was on the line.

"He's not here, so let's cut it out with the Star Wars. . ." Donna pleaded. "It's just reminding me of the old Eric. And I don't wanna remember the old Eric; I wanna _**see **_the old Eric." Everyone nodded in agreement. Seeing the old Eric would be a lot better than being reminded of the old Eric. Seeing Star Wars as many times as they had in the last week was giving them glimpses of life before the incident had happened. Every time Luke came on screen, his face was molded and shaped into Eric's. It was different to the Eric that they saw now. When they saw him, his face was molded and shaped into Darth Vader.

"But until he decides to open back up, we're stuck with this Eric." Kelso added, standing up and walking to the still open door that led out of the basement. "I'll be back tomorrow. Let me know if Eric comes back to the good side." It was only wishful hoping on his part, but he still held out to hope that Eric will change back to the way he was overnight.

Once Kelso left, Fez and Donna followed suit and left; knowing that trying to get through to Eric was done for the night. There wasn't any reason to stay here any longer for the night. Hyde and Jackie weren't ready to call it quits for the night. Instead of sitting here feeling sorry for themselves at getitng Eric hurt, they can be back up there pesterring him until he decided to open back up to them. They were about to go after him before they heard footsteps coming down the other staircase.

Jackie turned hopeful, "Eric?" she looked enthusiastic at having another chance to try and convince Eric to open back up and be her friend again. She was already getting a speech all ready before she realized who it was. Jackie scoffed. "Oh. . . It's just you."

Laurie put on a face of mock hurt, holding her hand to her chest. "Oh, you hurt my feelings, Jackie. I don't know how I'm ever gonna get over this. It's gonna haunt me for the rest of my life." Laurie stopped with the sarcasm and rolled her eyes.

"Why are you down here?"

"It's my house and I can go wherever I want." Laurie shot back with her smirk plastered on her pretty face.

"Shouldn't you be busy failing at getting the attention of that single father?"

Hyde smirked at how Laurie's face fell. The man that Hyde was talking about was the same man that had called for help when Eric had gotten hurt. He had taken Eric to the hospital and helped stay with him when they were all getting ready to go and see him. He was already going there for his friend and took the time out of his schedule to help save Eric. Needless to say, Laurie saw him when she came with her parents to the hospital and had gotten it in her head that he was her next challenge. So for the past two weeks, Laurie had daily made effort to try and get him in bed. But it wasn't easy since he was only concentrating on his five year old daughter and ignored Laurie each time he came by to check on Eric. He was the only one that Eric really talked to, feeling in debt to him for saving his life.

Laurie scoffed, "He left awhile ago. Said that it was past his daughter's bedtime or something."

Jackie laughed, "Looks like Laurie can't win with this one. Finally, she lost when it comes to a man."

Laurie glared at her. "I didn't lose anything. I'm still going for it."

"It still doesn't sit right with me that you are going after a man that has a sweet innocent baby girl that needs him."

"Well mind you're own business."

Hyde had enough. "As fun as ths is to listen to, I'm gonna hit the hay. Jackie, this isn't anything new from Laurie, so leave it alone." Jackie shrugged but nodded at him. "Laurie, how about instead of going after a single dad, why don't you try to get your brother to open back up." Laurie shrugged at him, not really caring what he was saying. She never listened to Hyde or any of Eric's friends when they talked. But this time, she paid somewhat attention to what Hyde said. She did feel bad about what happened to Eric. "Night ladies. Don't kill each other. We don't need another visit to the hospital so soon." Hyde ventured into his room in the basement.

Jackie and Laurie stared at each other, waiting for the other one to say something. Every time the two of them wanted to fight, they always liked to wait for the other one to start first so that the other one can have somewhere to start off with the insults. Eric's rant to her reduced Jackie's defenses, so she snapped first.

"I don't like how you're trying to take advantage of a dad who already has too much on his plate." Jackie answered honestly.

Laurie shrugged, "I can't help it if he's cute. Plus, he helped my brother so he scored some points in my eyes."

Jackie nodded, feeling somewhat bad that someone that Eric barely knew was already more of a friend in his eyes than she was; someone that he known for a long time. "He did help Eric. He saved his life."

"I heard what Eric said outside." Laurie leaned against the dryer. "How's your back?"

"Why do you care?" Jackie was on guard now, seeing that Laurie was faking being concerned about her feelings. She didn't know what her plan was but she wouldn't let her get to her. She was already upset because of Eric and didn't need his sister to make her feel worse.

"I don't. . . But my brother looked really mad and I wanna know just how violent he is now."

Jackie nodded, figuring that that made sense for Laurie to ask. "He's still angry and the hole in his stomach is only fueling his rage. Laurie. . . I never knew he was capable of being this angry; of being this hateful."

"Trust me, I'm more surprised than you are. I've known Eric his whole life and never have I seen a darker side of him."

Jackie wrapped her arms around her chest. "Can we bring him back?"

Instead of answering, Laurie shrugged her shoulders and walked back up the steps, forgetting why she came down here in the first place. Jackie lay on the couch and felt the tears brim in her eyes as she replayed Eric's words to her.

"_Go crawl in a hole and die._"

"I miss my Jedi."

. . .

Eric shook his head in fury as he threw his G.I. Joe action figure across the room, the toy almost breaking by how hard he had thrown it. It probably would've broke if he had thrown it harder, but the injury he had reduced what strength he had.

He was angry at everyone.

How could they do that to him?

How can they snap at him and make him almost get killed?

Eric lay on his bed as he stared up at the ceiling. He never knew he could have this much anger inside him. Especially to his friends and family. He felt less anger to the man who hospitalized him.

He did feel bad that he hurt Jackie. He felt some kind of remorse for hurting the beautiful girl, but he didn't let it get him more down than he already was. He felt guilt make its way in as he remembered how hurt she looked when he knocked her down. He was about to go down and apologize, but he replayed her words to him and the anger took back over.

"Stupid bitch." he mumbled before he drifted off into a nightmare about what happened that night.

The pain from his injury intenstified as he recalled what happened.

End of Chapter 2 of Drowning in Sorrow

I don't really like this chapter, maybe you do though.

More clues as to what happened. Someone was with Eric and saved his life. Still not enough to figure out what happened.

I liked the Jackie/Laurie interaction in this chapter.

Looks like Laurie is trying to get a fling with a single father.

This is the only time I'm gonna be updating this weekend.

Next Time: Chapter 3


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Don't own That '70s Show

AN: **I'm typing this chapter on my phone because my brother likes to be an ass to me when he feels like it, so I apologize if something looks weird or is misspelled.**

**More of Eric acting like an ass in this chapter so that's sure to be fun.**

Chapter 3-

Eric lay on his bed, throwing one of his action figures up into the air and catching it as it came back down before rinsing and repeating.

He's been awake for a little over three hours now, the pain in his stomach waking him up every time he started to really get some rest. So, to avoid wasting his time and patience with the pain, he stopped sleeping and just sat in his bed since five in the morning.

He sighed after passing the three hour mark, silently asking himself how he was able to do this for as long as he had. He threw the action figure on the floor with most of his stuff that was already there. He stopped caring about the precious order of his stuff after nearly dying. It just didn't matter anymore to him. Nothing did.

Eric ran his hand down to his stomach and circled his fingers around the bandages that covered his right side. It was time for him to check the wound. The pain was becoming a lot to bare and he wanted to make sure that it wasn't getting worse. Not to mention that there was blood slipping through the bandages if the slow changing color from white to dark red was any indication.

He slowly revealed his wound from under the bandages: The grizzly sight of a small hole in his stomach slipping out dark red ooze met his eye.

A gunshot wound.

Eric hoisted himself up slowly, doing his best to try and control the pain that he felt coming up. Every morning and night, the pain seemed to get worse and worse. It was supposed to be getting better for him when it came to his wound. If his friends were gone from his life, he at least wanted the gunshot wound to go away.

Thinking about his friends made Eric growl angrily, stirring up the gunshot wound even worse. It was because of them that he got shot in the first place. If one of them wouldn't have yelled at him, he wouldn't be in all this pain now; both physically and emotionally. It was because of their hurtful words and actions that led him to get shot.

Thinking about how he got shot made Eric crack a smirk as he opened a drawer by his bed to get more bandages. It was quite honestly a case of bad luck and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was just walking through the streets and came across two people fighting; a scream followed and then the shot...

The shot that somehow flew over and hit him in the stomach.

Eric maybe could've forgiven his friends if he wouldn't have gotten hurt like that. If he wouldn't have gotten shot, he could possibly forgive them and move on from what happened. But since he did get shot, he knew that the line was crossed. He almost lost his life because of them. That wasn't easily forgiven, if ever.

Eric heard his door being knocked as he finished replacing the bandages. He didn't bother acknowledging who was behind the door, more interested in the burp he felt coming up his stomach.

"Eric?" Oh great. Its his mother. Out of everyone, Eric was mad at his mother the least. She really didn't do anything to hurt him, only telling him that night that she didn't have time for him as she had to go to work.

And funny that her work ended up being helping him after he got shot.

"Your friend from the hospital is here." Eric almost tuned her out when she said friend, but after she mentioned hospital; he knew who she was talking about.

It was the guy who saved his life by calling 9-1-1.

He decided to help out Eric after he got shot, feeling somewhat responsible for what happened to him. Eric wasn't gonna lie and say he didn't agree at first, but after hearing the whole story from him about why he was out that night, Eric couldn't stay angry with the older man. Plus he appreciated the help. There was no way in hell he was gonna let his old friends help him. They didn't deserve to.

"Please hurry, your sister keeps hastling him." Eric shook his head slowly at that one. He actually laughed when all of his sister's advances were brushed away by this man. It was something that Eric was sure would only happen once in a blue moon, so he enjoyed it when he saw it; no matter how angry he was. He looked to the picture that was on the wall in front of him.

It was the work of a five-year-old little girl. It was a get well soon card that his new friend's daughter had made for him. Eric really appreciated it, finding it to be cute. These two people, this father and daughter, were way better to him than any of his old friends ever were.

Eric threw on a plain ol green shirt and jeans, not caring how he looked as he opened the door and walked past his awaiting mother without a word or second glance. He strolled down the steps as he reached the living room, rolling his eyes as the sound of his sister trying to flirt became louder and easier to understand.

Before he could reach the kitchen where he guessed they were, Hyde appeared from the swinging door and stopped as they looked to the other. Strangely, it wasn't a battle of sarcastic remarks and insults like how Hyde expected Eric to talk, still in the dark as how to handle a darker Eric. Eric just gave the Zen boy his own Zen look, tilting his head as he gazed uninterestingly at his ex-friend.

Hyde looked like he was trying to figure out what to say, Eric almost laughing at how the boy didn't seem to know what to say to him; something usually always at the tip of Hyde's tongue about someone. Eric really couldn't have cared less about what the boy wanted if he tried. He just wanted to see what's up with the man who saved his life and then continue his day from there.

"Hey," Hyde finally got a word out, Eric giving a fake cheer of excitement in his head at the crappy conversation starter. "Forman. Sleep well?"

Eric didn't say anything as he gestured to his wound, hoping Hyde can figure it out because he wasn't gonna say a word to him. The only words Eric wanted to give him after everything were not appropriate, especially since now there was a small child around that can hear. Her dad would be pretty pissed at him if he cursed around his kid. Eric could understand where that anger would come from. It was the only anger that he actually put up with nowadays.

Hyde slowly nodded, realization kicking in. "Yeah... look, about last night and what I said..." Eric was just dying of enthusiasm over here at where Hyde was going with this. If there was an award for sarcasm, he would win hands down. "I was just tired of your attitude."

Eric turned from Zen to angry, the shift almost instantaneous. Hyde had a problem with his anger?! He had a problem with his attitude?! Of all the goddamn nerve Eric has seen in his life.

"I know you're mad and you have every right to be. But if we want to fix things, you gotta give me and everyone else a chance to try."

"Maybe I don't wanna fix things." Eric said with as little venom as he could use without completely losing it. The widen of Hyde's eyebrows showed Eric that he can get past him now. He left Hyde with his charming parting words. The truth was in there. He really didn't know if he wanted to fix his problems with his friends. They needed to prove themselves to him before he gave them a chance.

But Eric couldn't figure out why he felt he was lying.

He swung the door open to the kitchen, seeing his sister chat it up with an older man while Jackie chatted with a small dark haired little girl. Eric recognized the two right away, the smile he felt coming up starting to spread across his face. He quickly killed it before Jackie and Laurie saw it. He didn't want them to think he forgave them and was all peachy again.

He ignored how Jackie seemed to stare at him while she rubbed her back, seemingly in pain by it. He tapped the shoulder of the little girl. "Hey Naomi." Eric watched the little girl turn and grin up at him.

"Hi Eric!" The five-year-old girl jumped from her seat in the kitchen and wrapped her arms around Eric's leg in a death grip.

"Sweetie, Eric probably doesn't want you to suffocate his leg." Her dad ignored the obvious hints that Laurie was giving him and gave a look of apology to Eric.

Eric shook his head, "It's fine Frankie. She's not bothering me. The other two girls in here are the ones who bother me."

Jackie noticeably flinched at Eric's harsh comment. He didn't know why she was here so early but honestly couldn't care less. Her being here at the crack of dawn wasn't gonna change his mind. It only wasted both of their time.

Eric turned back to one of the only people he wasn't peeved at. "What's with the early appearance? Not that I'm not happy to see my saviour." Eric smirked when Frankie rolled his eyes.

"That one wrapping around your leg," He answered with a quick point to his daughter. "Wanted to go get breakfast and wanted you to come." He explained easily.

"Still not allowed at your house?" Eric asked knowingly, ignoring the stares of the two women behind him.

"Not even close." He shook his head, removing his daughter from Eric's leg and holding her.

"Well I'll be glad to partake in a quest for breakfast with my guardian angel." Eric never got tired of being a wiseass with Frankie. He had no limitations or worries when it came to him so he took every chance he could. He allowed it after admitting guilt for indirectly helping Eric to get shot.

"Maybe we can come too?" Eric groaned when he heard the question in Jackie's voice. He was taking this as a chance to get away from everyone around him and his sister and Jackie tagging along would only cause him more stress.

"No. Lets go you two." Eric turned to Naomi. "We can share eggs like we did at the hospital." Eric liked Naomi. She was really cute and brought up some of his downed spirit that he had nowadays. Plus, he wanted to fill in the empty space in the girl's life after what happened.

No girl should lose someone so young.

Naomi giggled and clapped her hands. "Yay!" Eric wasn't gonna lie and deny that Naomi didn't remind him of Jackie just a little bit. It was probably why they got along like they did.

Laurie gave her flirtatious look to Frankie. "Call me, hottie." She was met with silence and the departure of the three people. Laurie groaned after they left. "How come it doesn't work?"

Jackie shrugged, "Because he sees right through you? Or maybe he doesn't want to have a one night stand?"

"He has to be gay." Laurie ignored Jackie.

"He has a daughter,"

"So?"

"So... he can't be gay."

Laurie scoffed. "Whatever."

Jackie rolled her eyes. "Back to Eric. Doesn't it hurt you that he likes them more than us? Even if only a little bit." Laurie shrugged. "I'm trying to apologize and make it up to him, but he keeps pushing me away."

"Why would you want to after how badly he hurt you yesterday? You were stuck here because your back hurt too much to walk."

Eric had failed to see that Jackie was wearing the same clothes as yesterday.

Jackie sadly gazed out as Eric drove the Vista Cruiser out of the driveway and to wherever it was he was going. She didn't care that he hurt her. He had every reason to. Jackie hated this new Eric, but if he had to hurt her to get back to the way he was before, then she welcomed it.

"Because I want my Eric back." There she went again calling him her Eric. She didn't know why she kept calling him that. Eric was nowhere near hers that she had the right to call him hers. There was something in her that she couldn't figure out.

Did she like Eric?

Or did she simply miss the old Eric?

End of Chapter 3 of Drowning in Sorrow

Typed on my phone, so apologies for anything weird.

Eric's wound is a gunshot. Shocked?

We'll find out why and how he got shot soon.

How cute is Naomi? She'll actually help Jackie and Eric get together and helping him to start forgiving. Her dad helps too.

Next Time: Chapter 4


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Don't own That '70s Show

AN: **Sorry for the wait for this chapter but my computer is still messed up so I'm back on my brother's laptop. Hopefully I get that thing fixed just because I hate the way it stares mockingly at me when I wanna write, especially since I'm now on summer vacation and it decided to stop working.**

**Anyway, back to the story. Some more insight on what happened that night, but still no direct flashback. I wanna keep that mystery there for a little bit. The answer of how Eric exactly got shot is answered here, and all I'll say is that it's kinda of a WTH moment. Just read to find out.**

**Thanks for all the support for this story. I really didn't know people would like this that much. It's becoming my best That '70s Show fanfic.**

**Enjoy**

Chapter 4-

Eric was sitting in the breakfast cafe that he decided to go with his saviour and daughter, waiting for his eggs to be made and brought to him. He circled his bullet wound as he watched Naomi sip cutely on her juice box, her dad watching with keen eyes. Eric was slightly adored by the father-daughter relationship between Frankie and Naomi. He did everything he could for his little girl, always doing everything he could to keep her safe above everything else; but it reminded him of his father and Laurie too.

It reminded him about how much more his father cared for Laurie over him.

"Can I have another one?" Naomi looked to her dad, placing her empty juice box on the table that they were sitting at. "Please?"

Frankie smiled at his daughter's cuteness. She reminded him so much of her mother before they had their differences and decided to split up. He shook his head slowly at her, watching her pout that he loved so much form on her face.

"Daddy!" she whined.

Eric didn't miss the way that Frankie seemed to sadden at her tone of voice. He didn't know much about him, only knowing what Frankie told him in the last two weeks, which wasn't much by itself. But he never missed how he always seemed to get a little more sad when Naomi called him daddy. Eric didn't know what it was, but maybe it tied into what happened the night the two of them met.

The night when he got shot.

"When your food comes, then you can have another one." He promised, his slightly darkened demenor brightening by the light that came in his daughter's eyes.

"Okay!" she proceeded to play with her doll that Frankie handed her when she got restless on the car ride over here, tuning out the entire world as she got sucked into her own.

Eric decided that now was the best time for him to intervene, the peace and seclusion that they had now not going to last very long. "Are you alright?" Frankie appeared to look confused over what Eric was talking about, but he knew exactly what he was talking about. "After what happened... are you alright?"

Frankie shrugged his shoulders, "I did what I had to do."

"Maybe. But what you did was traumatizing. Even if what you did was necessary to save your daughter." No one saw how Naomi was looking back and forth between Eric and her dad. "What you did... no one forgets that."

"What I did got you shot."

"Speaking of which," Eric took a deep breath. "How the hell did the gun go off when you stabbed him in the chest?" Eric remembered exactly how he got shot.

He was finished with everything with his friends and family and was going for a walk to try and calm his head after what happened. He figured that maybe if he gave them all time to calm down, things would go back to the way they were supposed to be. When he reached a street of houses, he saw a man pointing a gun at another man, who he later found out was Frankie, and then watched as he got closer and plunged something in the other man's chest and the sound of the gun going off. After that, Eric only felt pain as he listened to his blood rush through his ears and eventually collapsed into the darkness.

After coming to and finding out what happened, he deduced that it was because of his friends and family that he got hurt in the first place. If one of them wouldn't have turned him away and spent time with him, then he wouldn't have had to leave and get shot in the first place. He blamed Frankie to at first, but when he found out it was him that called 9-1-1 and found out why he did what he did from him, he quickly saw that getting and staying angry at him was stupid.

But for his family and friends? He wasn't gonna be as forgiving anytime soon.

"I killed him. I didn't want to, but I did what I had to do." Frankie resumed the conversation after their food had arrived. He settled his daughter into his lap as he fed her some eggs, keeping eye contact with Eric as he talked. "He was gonna take my daughter away from me. I couldn't have that happen. I love her too much."

"He was your best friend though." Eric nodded sympatheticly. "It can't be that easy to do what you did."

"I never said it was." Frankie placed a kiss on the top of his daughter's head.

"I love you, Daddy." Naomi sorta understood what happened between her daddy and her friend. She knew that he was gone, but she didn't know exactly that her dad had killed someone. She also knew that her daddy was sad about it.

"I love you too, Naomi. I love you so much."

Eric couldn't put his despair for the two into words. They've been through so much in two weeks that Eric was sure that it was gonna take a long time for them to get over it, and even then... they may never fully get over what happened.

"I'm sorry for reminding you about what happened."

"Don't be. Anyway, now I have to ask you a question." Eric nodded, giving him permission to ask a question. "Those two girls back at your place, your sister and friend, they looked really anxious to try and make things right with you. Why did you turn them away? Things aren't gonna get better if you don't give them a chance to try and make things right between you."

Eric frowned, stabbing his fork into his eggs fiercely. Naomi jumped a little bit, but her dad's comfort and touch kept her from really jumping and getting scared. Eric smiled apologetically at her before he put his fork back into his eggs, much softer this time than he did before.

"Look what happened between you and your friend. How do I know that they won't turn on me and try and kill me? They already yelled at me and pushed me away once. How do I know that they won't do anything drastic again or worse than last time?"

"Because my friend was crazy. He was so convinced about him and Naomi that it drove him into insanity. I've seen your friends a few times and they want to make things right between you. None of them even come close to my friend's personality. They won't try to kill you."

"If they do," Naomi swallowed a piece of the egg she was eating. "My daddy can make them go away like he did to his friend."

Eric's eyes widened and he saw Frankie stiffen at his daughter's accusation. That was so scary to hear coming from a little girl. Eric felt the pieces of egg fall from his mouth and onto his pants. "Naomi, don't talk like that. Your daddy doesn't have to make my friends go away." Eric found it painful to call them his friends, but he needed to calm the mind of the little girl before it got worse.

Naomi nodded, "I like Jackie. I don't want her to go away."

Eric watched Frankie smirk at him. It took Eric a second to realize that he was blushing just a little bit. He didn't know why he was blushing when he was thinking of Jackie. He just broke up with Donna because of what happened to him. He couldn't have these thoughts about Jackie so soon after Donna, and when he was mad at her and everybody else too about getting shot.

"Why is Eric's face red?" Naomi innocently asked.

"Because when you like someone a lot, your face turns red. It shows you care about them."

"Does your face turn red when you think of mommy?" Naomi wondered. Her parents didn't live with each other anymore and she didn't know if they loved each other anymore. She wanted her mommy and daddy to get back together.

"It used too, Baby, but not anymore." Frankie looked to Eric to let him know that his daughter wasn't distracting him from Eric and his blush.

Eric rolled his eyes, "I'm not gonna forgive them anytime soon. Or ever."

"You'll regret it if you don't."

Eric wanted to ignore that and say that he was right. He didn't want to think of the possibility of him being right and losing his friends forever. He wasn't gonna have a chance forever to make things right and if he didn't move in soon, he would lose every chance he had and be alone forever. His friends weren't gonna wait forever.

But he didn't want to forgive them. He almost died because of them. He didn't want to forgive them so easily and so soon after what happened. It wouldn't be right.

He shrugged it off as he ate an egg. If they wanted to make things right like Frankie said they apparently did, they would need to prove it to him first.

But as of now, his best friend wasn't Hyde anymore. It was little five-year-old Naomi.

And he didn't like Jackie and didn't blush when he thought of her. He didn't blush when he thought of her beautiful face or her amazing body. He didn't smile when he thought of her smile and her eyes when she was happy, which he didn't see much of anymore, a pang forming in his heart.

He was gonna have to smash his head into the wall later.

End of Chapter 4 of Drowning in Sorrow

Short, but its an inside look at Eric's feelings and how he acts now when he isn't around his friends. It's also now revealed how Eric got shot. More to come with that.

I just love Naomi. I can't wait for her to start her plan of getting Eric and Jackie together. Slight spoiler there.

Hope you enjoyed.

Next Time: Chapter 5


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